On the petition against Gov. Yusuf, the Kano Tribunal is holding off on making a decision. On Monday, the Kano State Election Petition Tribunal postponed making a decision on a petition brought by the All Progressive Congress to challenge the win of Governor Abba Kabir-Yusuf of the New Nigeria People’s Party.
Recall that the APC is suing the INEC for announcing Kabir-Yusuf of the NNPP as the winner of the governorship election held on March 18, 2023.
The NNPP, Kabir-Yusuf, and INEC are named as respondents in the petition.
The Election Petition Tribunal, a three-member panel chaired by Justice Oluyemi Akintan-Osadebay, announced that once all parties have adopted their final written speeches, the tribunal would announce the date for the judgement.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to serve as the Chairman of a Tribunal for the first time, and I have prayed to God for guidance in doing so.
“We’ll be honest. You may trust that we will read the law and will do it as thoroughly as possible. Input from Akintan-Osadebay
Offiong Offiong, SAN, the attorney for the APC, had previously addressed matters of law in his final written addresses, which were dated July 31, August 6, August 7, and August 8.
“We encourage the tribunal to maintain our petition and grant our reliefs, and we urge the court to adopt our written addresses as our argument.
“Before and after the election, the second respondent brought two membership registers. The membership count fluctuates.
It demonstrates that the second responder joined the NNPP after the election rather than being a member before.
The ballots used by certain municipal governments weren’t entirely signed, stamped, and date-stamped.
Emmanuel Osayomi, an attorney for the INEC, also filed an address in writing on August 1 that was submitted on August 2.
Additionally, “We also filed our final written address, dated August 14, written address on the admissibility of documents, and on point of law, dated August 1.”
To this extent, Osayomi asked the court to deny the petition on the grounds that the petitioner had not provided sufficient evidence to support his claims.
Adegboyega Awomolo, SAN, Kabir-Yusuf’s legal representative, submitted his final written address on August 1 with a filing date of July 31.
“We submitted our written responses on issues of law, which were postmarked on August 11. We objected to the petition and the witness’s eligibility for admission.
“We also filed additional authorities on August 18. I ask My Lord to reject this request.
“I urge My Lord to disregard the position of Pw31 statement of oath, dated May 26, there is no evidence,” stated Awomolo.
John Olusola-Baiyeshea, SAN, the responding attorney to NNPP, embraced it in his written remarks, dated July 30 and submitted on July 31.
“This is the most unapproved petition,” he said, pleading with the panel to
It should be recalled that on July 20, the Petitioner concluded his case before the tribunal by calling 32 witnesses, whilst INEC did not.
Furthermore, it should be noted that while NNPP ended its case on July 24 without calling any witnesses, Kabir-Yusuf ended his case on July 22 with Secretary to the State Government, Dr. Abdullahi Baffa-Bichi, as the only witness.